The Jungle Movie by geek-bait
by geek-bait
Summary: So I've FINALLY gotten the muse to write my own rendition of TJM and here it is! Be excited.
1. Chapter 1

"So what do you think, Doc?" Helga asked as she paced Doctor Bliss's office. She could have sat in her therapist's chair, or she could have laid down on the chaise, gone in the window sill, or even perched behind Doctor Bliss's desk. Helga had sat at all of these places, and more, but she couldn't sit right now. She'd finally worked up the nerve to tell Doctor Bliss about what had happened on top of the FTi building. It had been the entire summer since then and Arnold still hadn't mention the incident to her at all. Despite everything, even Arnold wasn't so dense that he believed that her confession was nothing more than a 'heat of the moment' incident. Helga was fully aware that Arnold had just given her a way out of her embarrassment. He was too kind hearted to tell her that she was crazy and that he could never love her back.

Doctor Bliss frowned as she finished scratching down her notes. "Well, Helga, the next step is up to you."

"But what IS the next step?" Helga exclaimed. "I mean, I already told him that I love him. That was so unthinkable I just...never really considered what came next." Helga unleashed a long sigh before sinking onto the chaise.

Doctor Bliss set aside her notebook and moved to sit next to Helga, "Well, Helga, it's possible that Arnold just...isn't ready. I mean, love is a big step for anyone. Even adults have trouble with it."

"That's not too surprising." Helga muttered, thinking about Bob and Miriam. "But what do you think?"

"I'm not sure what you mean, Helga." Doctor Bliss answered.

"What do I do next?" Helga asked, almost shouting.

Doctor Bliss frowned, "Do you want my honest opinion?" Helga nodded earnestly and the therapist sighed, knowing that the ten-year-old girl wouldn't like what she had to say, "I think it may be a good idea to try and...move on."

"Move on?" Helga repeated.

Doctor Bliss nodded, "You love Arnold so much, and now that you've told him and he hasn't returned your feelings, you're making yourself sick over it. Maybe it would be best if you stopped focusing so much on Arnold and tried to busy yourself with other things, like your studies, perhaps."

Helga blinked slowly, allowing Doctor Bliss's words to sink in. "So...no more poetry?"

"I wouldn't say that." Doctor Bliss answered. "Your poetry is a form of expression for you. A form of expression that you really need. I actually recommend that you continue to write poetry."

"No more shrines?" Helga asked.

Doctor Bliss nodded, "That would be a good idea. Just remember, this is only a suggestion. What you do is up to you." There was a buzz and Doctor Bliss looked up at the clock. "I'm afraid that's all the time we have for today. Feel free to call me if you ever need to talk."

Helga nodded. She didn't need her therapist's number, as she already had it memorized. She bid Doctor Bliss farewell, promising that she would consider it. Though, it didn't take long for Helga to decide that Doctor Bliss was right.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

'I like your bow because it's pink like your pants.'

Helga growled at the memory before yanking her bow off the top of her head and shoving it into her backpack. She had done what Doctor Bliss recommended. She read through the piles and piles and piles of pick books filled with poetry she had in her a fresh set of eyes, she supposed they weren't bad considering her age, but now she couldn't help but feel that the poems were horrible. She had burned them all before she could talk herself out of it. She'd gotten rid of her current shrine, and everything she'd collected for her next one. She was turning over a new leaf, but she saw Arnold everywhere, now more than ever.

With a scowl, she stepped out of the girl's bathroom and back into the hall to head to class. She still scowled, she was still mean, she still stomped around, and she still yelled at everyone. Everyone but Arnold. She didn't even hardly ever look at him anymore, let alone speak to him. She was sure that Arnold was relieved by this, but she'd been forcing herself to ignore him so she wouldn't know.

She stomped into her class and took her seat, one in the front row to assure herself that she couldn't stare longingly at the back of Arnold's stupid football head during class. She was among the first to class. Lila, Rhonda, and Nadine were already gathered and giggling amongst each other while Sid listened to Stinky ramble on about how 'lemon puddin' is my favorite kinda puddin''. Some things never changed.

Phoebe entered with Arnold and Gerald, though the girl's attention was more focused on Gerald. Phoebe said goodbye to the boys as they went to their seats farther back as Phoebe slide into the desk on Helga's left. "Ohayō, Helga." Phoebe said brightly.

Helga replied, "Guten Morgen, mein Freund."

Phoebe blinked and looked taken aback, "I didn't know you knew German, Helga."

In turn, Helga shrugged, "I have a cousin who lives in Düsseldorf. He practices English with me and I practice German on him once or twice a week. It's not that big a deal."

"I actually think it's rather impressive, Helga." Phoebe countered, knowing that Helga knew a fair amount of Japanese as well, thanks to her father's lessons when Helga had dinner at the Heyerdahl's, which was more often than not anymore. Not that Phoebe could blame Helga. Phoebe knew better than anyone how Helga's home life was.

Helga replied, "Sore wa taishita kotode wa arimasen, Phoebe."

Phoebe nodded, "Alright, Helga, if you're sure."

From a few rows back, Arnold couldn't help but overhear Helga and Phoebe's conversation. He didn't understand half of it, but he still heard it. "I didn't know Helga spoke other languages."

Gerald glanced up at Arnold from his book of math notes, "With as much as she hangs out with Phoebe it isn't surprising that she knows a bit of Japanese. "

Arnold was about to mention the German, but he was cut short when Mr. Simmons entered the classroom with his usual bright smile, greeting everyone and assuring the class that they were going to have a very 'special' day in class today. Not that that was anything new. According to Mr. Simmons every day was a special day. Arnold didn't mind though. He was actually happy that Mr. Simmons had been promoted to their fifth grade teacher. Mr. Simmons requested that the class take out their notebooks and get started on a new poetry assignment. Arnold had always struggled with poetry. He knew that in some ways he was artistic. Words had never been one of those ways. As he tried to string a mess together that could count as poetry, his eyes wandered around the room. Gerald was bobbing his head as he wrote, like he were writing to some rhythm in his head. Brainy was staring at the front of the class with his usual dazed smile, writing slowly and deliberately. Phoebe seemed more frustrated than anyone, scratching down line after line before angrily crossing it out. He was about to look away from Phoebe when he noticed that she had ripped the page from her notebook, crumpled the paper into a ball, and discarded it. Now that Arnold looked, he was aware that that paper wasn't the first that Phoebe had angrily tossed away. The first person to get up and turn in their poem was Helga, who had finished long before the rest of the class. Usually when Helga finished a class assignment early she would resign herself to throw spitballs at the back of Arnold's head. She sat in front of him now so she couldn't do that anymore. Instead, she pulled out a large book and started reading. Something was different about her.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Helga!" Arnold called after her as he rushed after her, leaving a confused Gerald in his wake.

Helga stopped in her tracks and her grip on her backpack straps tightened, turning her knuckles white. "What do you want, Arnold?"

Arnold came to a stop and answered, "I was just wondering if you were ok."

"I'm fine." She answered shortly, "Is that all?"

"No, actually." Arnold admitted, shoving his hand in his pocket and pulling out Helga's pink ribbon. "You dropped this."

Helga glanced at Arnold's extended hand and then back up at him before rolling her eyes, "So what?"

Arnold blinked at her response, "Well don't you want it back?"

"I really don't care, Arnold." Helga retorted, "Throw it out, burn it, feed it to your pig, do whatever the heck you want with it."

Helga stormed off before Arnold could stop her. He didn't know how to react to Helga's response. She'd worn her bow every day since they were three. Why would she care so little about it now? Gerald shouted for Arnold to hurry up so that they could get on the bus and Arnold shoved the pink ribbon in his pocket before running to catch up with his friend.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Hey Shortman." Steely Phil exclaimed as he entered his grandson's room.

"Hi grandpa." Arnold replied from his desk.

"Dinner's almost ready. Your grandma made waffles and salmon!" Phil exclaimed excitedly.

Arnold nodded, "Ok, I'll be down in a minute."

Phil's brow wrinkled in confusion, "Is something wrong, Arnold?"

"No." Arnold answered. Then, he thought about it for a minute and said, "Yes."

"Well lay it on me, boy!" Phil said as he sat down on Arnold's sofa.

Arnold glanced at his grandpa before unleashing a sigh and saying, "It's kind of stupid, grandpa."

"I'm sure it's not stupid, Arnold." Phil pressed.

Arnold heaved a sigh before turning in his chair and rolling closer to his grandfather, "It's about Helga." he started.

"You're little friend with the one eyebrow?" Phil asked.

Suppressing a sigh, Arnold answered, "Yeah, right. Anyway, she's been acting sort of...weird lately."

"What do you mean?"

"Well...she's not torturing me anymore. She isn't even talking to me anymore." Arnold explained.

"But that's a good thing, isn't it?" Phil asked, unable to see the problem Arnold did. "You said she used to drive you loony."

"Well I've always wanted her to be nicer, but I never wanted her to cut herself off from everyone else." Arnold stated. "I mean she's suddenly acting so weird. Usually whenever PHoebe talks to Helga in Japanese Helga claims she has a headache and brushes it off. Today, she answered her in some other weird language I didn't recognise and then talked to Phoebe in Japanese. She's just...never done anything like that before."

Phil smiled, "You sound impressed with her, Shortman."

Arnold glared at his grandpa, "It's not like that."

Phil shrugged, "Whatever you say, Shortman. You probably just need to get used to it."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Arnold tried to take his grandpa's advice, but it wasn't as easy as he had expected. All the time Helga used to dedicate to tormenting, it seemed was now spent on her homework. She didn't always volunteer to answer questions like Phoebe did, but her grades had gone up a considerable amount. He knew because Mr. Simmons couldn't stop musing about her improvement, despite how many times Helga told him to 'stop fawning over her, already'.

Despite how much Arnold wanted to get to the root of Helga's sudden changes, he kept his distance and tried to not pry. He caught himself observing her during a math quiz and decided that he REALLY needed to make it a point to follow his grandpa's advice and just leave it alone. Maybe Helga's changes would run their course and then she'd be back to the old Helga he knew. He didn't even know how long it had been since she had called him football head. He never thought he'd miss that name.

He was zoning out again when Mr. Simmons announced that he had 'special' news and needed everyone's attention. Arnold sat down his pencil and forced himself to pay attention to Mr. Simmons.

"Class, I'd like to announce that our school is participating in a district-wide essay contest!" Mr. Simmons exclaimed. His announcement was met by a chorus of bored groans and Mr. Simmons began to remedy himself, "Now class, I know it may sound boring, but it's really a very exciting contest. The winner's class gets to take an international trip to a location of their choice!"

"Did you say international?" Rhonda asked, her interested piqued.

Mr. Simmons smiled, "Yes, Rhonda, I did."

"So if I were to win we could all go to Milan?" Rhonda squealed.

Mr. Simmons frowned and glanced down at the sheet of paper in his hand pertaining to the contest, "Um, no, Rhonda. I'm sorry, Milan isn't one of the locations."

Phoebe raised her hand, "What the the locations?" she asked after Mr. Simmons called on her.

"Excellent question, Phoebe!" Mr. Simmons exclaimed before turning to the chalkboard to write down the twenty location choices.

Athens, Greece

Berlin, Germany

Budapest, Hungary

Cairo, Egypt

Cancun, Mexico (Mayan Ruins)

Denpasar, Bali

Dublin, Ireland

Gobi Desert, Mongolia

Istanbul, Turkey

Kilimanjaro National Park, Tanzania

London, England

Madrid, Spain

New Delhi, India

New York, New York City, USA

Paris, France

San Francisco, California, USA

San Lorenzo, Argentina

Sydney, Australia

Tokyo, Japan

Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA

After Mr. Simmons wrote down the names of the places they could possibly go, the class suddenly became a zealous hive. Rhonda was dead set on winning the contest so that she could go shopping in Paris. Sheena was thrilled by the possibility that she could go on a safari in Killamanjaro. Eugene was hopeful that they could go to Broadway at least a day while they were in New York. Phoebe expressed her excitement about how she could visit her aunt and uncle while she was in Tokyo if she won and if Helga won then perhaps her family in Germany could visit her in Berlin. Stinky had always wanted to go to Yellowstone. Curly wanted to see where the Mayans had performed human sacrifices. Nadine wanted to go to Mongolia in the hopes of seeing the Desert Tarantula in person. Sid wanted to see the running of the bulls in Spain. The only ones who didn't voice their excitement for the contest were Brainy and Arnold. Arnold was too focused on what he'd need to do to win the contest. He needed to get to San Lorenzo, no matter what it took.


	2. Chapter 2

_The subject of the essay will be your knowledge of the location you wish to visit and why you think you deserve to go there. The essay must be printed, double spaced, with a Times New Roman font. A minimum of 500 words is required. The entry will be due by -_

Gerald shaking Arnold's arm violently took Arnold's attention from the sheet of paper with information about the essay contest. "Huh?" Arnold asked, having not heard a word that Gerald had just said to him.

Gerald rolled his eyes, "Man, what's gotten into you? You haven't said a word since the end of class. You've just been reading that paper over and over since class got out. What's the big deal?"

Arnold frowned, "Sorry, Gerald. I'm just...really excited about this essay contest."

Gerald crossed his arms over his chest and gave Arnold a look, "Yeah, right. Why do you have your head so set on it?"

Arnold glanced over his shoulder to make sure that no one else was listening. Sid was listening to Stinky drone on about lemon pudding. Rhonda was rambling to Nadine about a pair of shoes she wanted to buy. Phoebe had already gotten off the bus and Helga was in the seat behind Arnold and Gerald, but she had on a pair of headphones and was completely ignoring everyone and everything around her, sprawled out on the and Sheena were talking about choreography. Everyone was thoroughly occupied, and those who weren't were too far away to hear. "I want to go to San Lorenzo."

Gerald shrugged, "Before today I've never even heard of the place. Why do you wanna go there?"

Arnold then began to explain about his parents. He even showed Gerald his dad's journal. He'd hardly gone anywhere without the journal since he and his grandpa had read it. By the time Arnold had finished his explanation the time had come for Gerald to pull the cord and for the two friends to get off the bus and go to the Johansson's house to watch Pop Daddy. "That's rough, man." Gerald state as they started to leave the bus. "I hope you win that contest. Your reasons for wanting to go to San Lorenzo are way more important than my reason for wanting to go to Austrailia."

"Well we won't know if I've gotten it or not until next month." Arnold answered as he jumped off the bus behind his friend, fully unaware that Helga had heard everything he'd just said.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Hello Helga." Doctor Bliss said with a smile as she entered the lobby of Hillwood Medical Center. "I didn't think you were supposed to be here for about another half hour. Is something the matter?"

Helga instantly shot up onto her feet when she saw Doctor Bliss. "Wrong? Oh, no not at all. I just decided to come here instead of go home after school."

"Well why don't you come in and we can have some extra time this session?" Doctor Bliss suggested kindly.

"Oh it's fine, I can wait." Helga insisted, shaking her head.

Doctor Bliss didn't take no for an answer. She took a seat in her armchair and pulled out a notepad. "So, Helga, how was your weekend? We certainly left our session on Thursday on a tender note."

Helga nodded, "My weekend was ok. I didn't do much."

"Did you have time to think about what I recommended?" Doctor Bliss asked.

"Yeah, I thought about it a lot." Helga answered as she made herself comfortable on the couch.

"Did you reach any conclusion?" Doctor Bliss pressed, knowing that it was unlikely that Helga would straight out tell her without a little bit of probing. Then again, Helga was always full of surprises.

With a shrug, Helga said, "You were right. It's not healthy for me to go on the way I've been. So...I threw it all out."

Bliss's brow furrowed, "Threw what out?"

"The shrine, the mementos, the volumes of poems about him. I got rid of everything." Helga answered, "It wasn't easy, but...I actually felt better about it."

"And how do you feel now?" Doctor Bliss asked, noticing the sad look in Helga's eyes.

Helga shrugged, "I don't know. I mean, I've done this once before, but it all panned out...differently."

"How so?" Doctor Bliss asked as she scribbled a few notes on her sheet of paper.

"Well when I did it before I thought I had taken a love potion that it so I didn't love Arnold anymore. I couldn't write poems anymore, and I can still write poems now, they're just...not love poems anymore. I was this...emotionless blob. I didn't yell at anyone, I didn't want to sock Brainy in the face when he hovered over my shoulder. I still yell at everyone, and I punched Brainy on my way over here."

Doctor Bliss crossed her arms over her chest, "Helga, what did we say about punching Brainy?"

"It's a bad thing to do, whatever." Helga answered before carrying on. "Anyway, why is it that that happened to me then, but it isn't happening now."

"I'd say that it's probably because when you took this...'out of love' potion you were denying your feelings. Now that you're confronting them, the situation is very different.

"There's something else." Helga admitted. Doctor Bliss motioned for Helga to continue. "Well...there's this essay contest at school. An essay contest I could win _easy_ and the prize is a class trip to one of twenty locations. I set on winning the contest, just to put my mind on something else. One of the places we could go is Germany and I thought it might be fun to meet some of my family there."

"That sounds like a wonderful idea, Helga." Doctor Bliss mused.

Helga rolled her eyes, "Yeah, it did. Before I heard Arnold talking to Gerald on the bus."

Doctor Bliss eyed Helga skeptical, "I'm not sure following Arnold around is-"

"I wasn't following him." Helga snapped, "I've wanted to, but I haven't. I haven't even spoken to him since I threw everything out. Anyway, I heard Arnold talking about how important this contest is to him and why he feels like he needs to win."

"And why does he need to win?" Doctor Bliss asked. Helga then began to explain what she had heard Arnold say to Gerald. Doctor Bliss was saddened at the story, and she could see where Helga could see it as a problem. "You want him to win the contest."

Helga nodded, "I think I could help him."

"Helga, I'm not going to allow you to cheat on this contest." Doctor Bliss chided.

"But-" Helga began.

Doctor Bliss held up her hand, "I'm sorry, Helga, but despite how sad the story is I can't support your choice to cheat."

"But he needs to win!" Helga exclaimed. "He deserves to win."

Doctor Bliss sat on the couch next to Helga and gave her a brief squeeze, "I know this is important to you. If you can think of some way to help Arnold win without cheating then that's fine."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Helga was the first to turn her essay into Mr. Simmons, over a week before the entries were due. She handed over the sealed envelope and tried to keep a smirk off her face when Mr. Simmons took the envelope and realized how thick and heavy it was. "My goodness, Helga, how many pages did you write?" Mr. Simmons asked.

Helga shrugged nonchalantly before answering, "Just thirty-nine."

Arnold watched the exchange between Helga and Mr. Simmons. Arnold felt like he had gotten a good start on his essay with five pages thus far about San Lorenzo and why he felt like deserved to go to South America. That was before he learned that Helga had already finished her essay. Helga, who was now tied for the best of the class with Phoebe. Not only that, but she had written thirty-nine pages. Chances of him winning now seemed bleak, but he still needed to try.

Helga got into her seat and watched as Mr. Simmons placed her envelope into the once-empty binder with the contest entries.

'_I really hope this works.' _She thought to herself as she pulled out a blank sheet of paper for their upcoming math quiz.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Hey Harv." Arnold greeted the mailman enthusiastically, springing onto the sidewalk from his stoop.

Harv, in turn, smiled and reached in his bag to give Arnold the mail for Sunset Arms, "Hey Arnold."

"Is it here?" Arnold asked zealously.

Harv shook his head, "Sorry, kid, but not today."

Arnold frowned and accepted the mail, "Thanks."

For the next three days, Arnold greeted Harv the same way and Harv gave Arnold the same news. That was, up until Friday. On Friday, Harv presented Arnold with a clipboard and asked him to sign for a package. Arnold carefully signed his name, Arnold Shortman, before accepting the package and running up to his room to rip it open. Inside was a binder full of information about San Lorenzo. Where he'd be staying, what the class would be doing, and when they would be leaving. Arnold was too excited to even finish looking through the binder. He had won! He ran through the house whooping and shouting. It was really happening! He was going to San Lorenzo!

**Hey everyone. Sorry my author's note didn't make it to the end of the last chapter. I just wanted to let everyone know that I'm still going to be finishing my other fics. I have to write them when I have muse to write them. If I force myself to write with no muse it all ends up horrible so I don't even bother trying. They are not forgotten, and I should probably not keep starting fics, but it's too late for that. That's probably going to be my last scene with Helga at therapy, but there's still everything else to write about, so I think that's enough of Helga at therapy. Thanks to everyone who reviewed, I love you, and don't forget to review this chapter if you have any questions or anything to say about it.**


	3. Chapter 3

It was Monday morning and Mr. Simmons was trying to explain to the class when the trip would take place, what the would be doing and where they would be staying. He was having trouble staying focused. Everyone was. After Helga had shown up late...like _that,_ hardly anyone could avoid thinking about the elephant in the room. However, none were foolish enough to address it.

Helga, however, didn't seem phased by all the attention. She was forcing herself to ignore the gape-mouthed stares. It was just an ordinary day.

The most horrified person in the room was Arnold. His jaw had all but hit the floor. What had happened to her?

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

_The Previous Friday_

Helga couldn't believe that she was doing this. It was so shallow and petty. Still, Doctor Bliss had said that it might help. Sure, she could have gone to Rhonda or even Phoebe with the task ahead of her, but there was only one person. One single person who could help her with this task and gossip about it with the entire class over the weekend.

Olga.

She wasn't particularly pleased about Olga being back home in the first place, spewing stories about Alaska and prancing around the house, practically perfect in every way. It could have been worse though. At least Helga knew for a fact that Olga had something to help in her endeavor. Money.

Helga forced herself to knock on her sister's door and cringed when Olga opened the door. She'd hoped that Olga would be out, but she ended up disappointed.

"Hi baby sister!" Olga exclaimed. "How was school?"

Helga heaved a sigh and restrained herself from retorting a sarcastic response. "It was fine, Olga. I, um...I need a favor."

"Anything, baby sister." Olga smiled, clearly happy at the invitation to some involvement in Helga's life.

"I need a makeover." Helga stated a bit hesitantly.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Olga certainly hadn't let Helga down with her makeover. The last time Helga got a makeover she ended up looking incredibly fake, and even a bit cheap. Helga had to hand it to her older sister, she knew what she was doing. She looked her age, she still looked like herself, and she looked...different. Her usual pigtails had been replaced by a ponytail that sat high on top of her head, tied down with a scrunchie. Her white Mary-Janes had been exchanged for a black pair of Chucks, a pair of faded blue skinny jeans and a white tank top under a pink jacket had replaced her signature pink dress. Everyone had reacted to Helga's change the way that Helga was sure that they would. No one had the nerve to even bring it up until she and Phoebe were walking home from school together. Even then, Phoebe was hesitant.

"Um, Helga?" Phoebe began cautiously.

Helga had a good idea as to what Phoebe would be asking, but she didn't push it. If she was going to tell anyone what was happening it would be Phoebe. Besides, Phoebe had always been helpful.

Phoebe swallowed a lump in her throat before she said, "I can't help but notice how...different you look."

"Is it a bad different?" Helga countered.

"Not at all." Phoebe insisted quickly, "I was just wondering if this change was brought about for any particular reason."

Helga glanced over her shoulder. She knew that not everyone was as crazy as she was, with the exception of Brainy. Still, what she planned to tell Phoebe she didn't even want Brainy knowing, despite the fact that she knew Brainy would never betray her secrets. "Would it be okay if we postponed this conversation until we get to a more...private place?"

Phoebe nodded, "Certainly, Helga. Would you like to stay for dinner?"

Helga considered Phoebe's offer. With Olga being home, it was likely that for once her absence would go noted, and Olga would be distraught to find that Helga wouldn't be spending every available moment with her sister. "I'd love to."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

There was a knock at Arnold's bedroom door, but he heard Rhonda talking on the other side of the wall before then.

"I mean, it's just not right." Rhonda stated, exasperated, as Arnold opened the door. Nadine rolled her eyes, growing tired of hearing Rhonda babble on. She hadn't stopped talking since she left school.

"Hey Rhonda." Arnold stated cautiously before looking at Nadine. "Hey Nadine."

"Hi Arnold." Nadine said dryly, hugging a binder to her chest as she entered his room.

Rhonda, dramatically followed and asked, "So Arnold, what do you have to say about this dramatic turn of events?"

Arnold blinked slowly, "Uh...turn of events? You mean the trip to San Lorenzo?"

Rhonda sighed and shook her head, "No, Arnold. That was just a disappointing turn of events. I mean, honestly, you could have chosen anywhere and you choose South America."

"She's referring to Helga's new look." Nadine explained with a sigh as she sat on the ground, opening her binder in hopes that they could get started on their project.

"What's wrong with it?" Arnold asked, "I thought Helga looked nice today."

"Nice?" Rhonda repeated, outraged. "Did you see what she was wearing?"

"Yeah...what about it?" Arnold answered slowly.

"The jacket she was wearing was a custom made Nancy Spumoni original! Custom made!" Rhonda explained. "Do you understand what that means, Arnold?"

Arnold blinked slowly, "I'm not sure that I do."

"It means that Helga's better dressed than Rhonda." Nadine answered, unable to contain a smug smirk that found her face.

Rhonda unleashed a distraught scream, "How could she do this to me? She doesn't even care about fashion! Ever since I ruined a pair of my boots after the first day I wore them my parents agreed that I can't have any more custom made designer clothes until I'm older and now _Helga _of all people has a custom made Spumoni original? It's just not fair!"

"Can we just get to work on our project?" Nadine asked from her place on the floor. "I have to be home before the street lights turn on."

Despite Rhonda's disliking for the idea, she finally agreed that they could begin working on their science assignment together.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Arnold didn't think he'd be getting any sleep tonight. He'd packed his bags and made sure that he had everything for his trip. Extra boxers, loads of bug spray, jeans, shoes, toothbrush, toothpaste, a comb, soap, a book to read on the plane, his dad's old journal and an empty blue book of his own. He hoped that he would fill at least a few pages with his own adventures in San Lorenzo. He often found himself daydreaming about sneaking away from the group, wandering into the forest, and finding his parents. He often had to remind himself that it was unlikely he'd get to do this. Still, that didn't mean he couldn't wish he could look for his parents.

There was a knock on Arnold's door and Arnold looked up from his bag, his hand still in his bag, leaving a pair of socks unsuccessfully shoved into the duffle. Before Arnold could answer, Steely Phil peeked in. "Hey Shortman. Mind if I come in?"

Arnold finished shoving the socks into his bag before answering, "Sure grandpa."

Phil entered, shutting the door behind him, before pulling a chair up beside Arnold's bed. "So, tomorrow's the big day."

Arnold beamed, "That's right, grandpa. I have to be at school by five. I'm really excited."

Phil smiled sadly, "I'm excited for you too, Shortman. I just...I want you to be careful."

"Grandpa, I'm always careful." Arnold answered.

"I know, I know. You're a good kid, always have been. It's just…" Phil rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly before admitting, "Well, the last time I let someone I love go to San Lorenzo they never came back. I just want to make sure that you don't get into mischief."

Arnold frowned. He hadn't considered how hard this might be on his grandpa and grandma. He managed a weak smile and reassured his grandpa, "I'll be careful, grandpa. Besides, it's a school trip. What could happen?"

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Arnold was surprised when he and Helga were the only ones already at P.S. 118. Helga looked even more angry that she usually did, scowling and slouching on the front steps of the school with her feet propped up on her purple suitcase.

"Hi Helga." Arnold greeted her cautiously, readjusting his bag on his shoulder.

"Morning football head." Helga replied shortly, not averting her gaze. It seemed that she was trying to glare a hole into the wall of the building across the road.

Arnold couldn't help but smirk a little bit, but only for a second. It had been weeks since she had called him football head. He never imagined that he would miss the name, but it would seem that he had. "Do you mind if I sit with you?" He asked, still being cautious.

"It's a free country, do what you want." Helga retorted.

Arnold placed his bag next to hers and sat next to her, "You sure are grumpy in the morning." Arnold mentioned casually.

"It's not mornings that make me grumpy." Helga retorted.

"I just barely got here!" Arnold exclaimed, "What did I do?"

She finally turned to look at him, arching a dubious brow before stating, "Arnold, me being ticked off has got nothing to do with you."

"Arnold! You're here!" Mr. Simmons exclaimed as he started down the steps. He was cheery and smiling brightly as always. "Did Helga already tell you about the special TA who will be accompanying myself and Principal Wartz for the trip?"

"Uh…" was all that Arnold could manage to say. At the mention of the 'special' teacher's assistant Helga's scowl deepened and her head snapped back into it's original position, her eyes begging for the building across the street to catch fire.

"Oh baby sister I'm so excited!" a familiar voice squealed as a pair of arms seized Helga from behind, pulled the angry ten-year-old into the embrace of her older sister.

"Get off me, Olga!" Helga demanded, squirming in an attempt to break free.

Olga released her younger sister, but not before planting a firm kiss on Helga's cheek, "I have to go and call some of your friends' parents, but don't you worry. We're sitting next to each other on the plane so we'll have plenty of time together."

"Yippee for me." Helga replied sarcastically as Olga strutted away to go and make her phone calls. "This is going to be the worst week of my entire life."

"I don't know why you dislike your sister so much." Arnold stated calmly.

"If you had to live with her, you'd get it." Helga snapped.

Arnold rolled his eyes and had to keep the smile from his face, "Whatever you say, Helga."

**Happy Sunday dear followers! Have a read on me. Don't forget to review if you want me to carry on (MY WAYWARD SONS!). Really though, review and I'll love you. **


	4. Chapter 4

The bus arrived at the airport and despite how early it was the class was in a frenzy. The only ones who weren't screaming and laughing and chattering. Gerald was excited to be spending a week away from his annoying siblings. Phoebe was excited to learn about a new culture. Sid, Stinky, and Harold were already planning how they could make the trip even more memorable by playing pranks. Rhonda was complaining because if she had won the contest they would have been going to Paris instead of South America if _she _had won the contest. Nadine was telling Peapod Kid how she was excited to see all the new bugs she could see in South America. Curly and Eugene were arguing over who was the better dancer while Sheena stood by, unable to get a word in edgewise between them. Even Mr. Simmons and Principal Wartz were expressing their excitement about the trip with Olga. The driver was even busy yelling for them all to hush up. There were only three people on the entire bus who were quiet. Brainy had fallen asleep and was dozing in his seat, leaned up against the window. Arnold was trying to be subtle as he read his dad's journal. Helga was scowling out the window as a whirlwind of thoughts raced through her mind. Staying at home with her deadbeat parents sounded like a great alternative to spending a week with Arnold in such close proximity…plus Olga.

When the bus finally stopped everyone started to head for the gate with suitcases and duffle bags dragging them down. Brainy would have stayed on the bus, sound asleep had Helga not intentionally kicked the back of his seat, waking him up suddenly. The bus was almost empty when Helga and Arnold left the bus. He gave her a brief smile and she just rolled her eyes before jumping off the bus. Mr. Simmons and Principal Wartz started lecturing the children about how they were expected to behave on the plane and they needed to pick their travel buddy. Helga went off to find Phoebe and Arnold looked for Gerald.

"Alright, Pheobe, let's get this over with." Helga said with a sigh once she found her friend.

"Oh…um…actually, Helga, I was wondering if you'd be alright with me being Gerald's partner." Phoebe replied warily.

"Geraldo?" Helga repeated.

Phoebe swallowed a lump in her throat, "I mean if you think you can't find another partner-"

"I can get some other sap to partner with me, Phoebe." Helga snapped, "Partner with Gerald, it's no skin off my nose."

Phoebe hugged Helga briefly and thanked her. Phoebe knew Helga well enough to know that she meant well…in her own way.

Originally Helga had been planning on just waiting to see who was left…then she realised if she didn't pick a partner she might be stuck with Olga…for the entire trip.

Arnold was having a similar problem when Gerald asked him if he was alright with him pairing with Phoebe. Of course Arnold was alright with it! Gerald had been crazy about Phoebe since last year.

"Sorry Arnold, but Miss Lila and I are already paired up." Stinky informed Arnold with a shrug.

"Can't, Helga. Sid and I already joined up." Harold said loudly.

"I'm terribly, terribly sorry, Arnold, but Iggy and I are sitting together." Peapod kid answered Arnold with a shake of his head.

"Uh, I'm sitting with Curly." Brainy said when Helga asked him as a last resort.

"Alright everybody! Does everyone have their special travel buddy?" Mr. Simmons asked warmly.

"No." Arnold and Helga both rang out in unison.

"Mr. Shortman, Miss Pataki, pair up. We're strapped for time. We've got to get on that plane." Principal Warts ordered shortly.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Helga was trying to make the best of the situation. She was just grateful that she wasn't sitting next to Olga. Still…sitting next to Arnold wasn't that much better. Not too long ago she would have been thrilled to be sitting next to him for twelve hour flight, but that was before she was determined that she needed to get over him. She buckled her seatbelt and pulled out her Walkman before putting on her headphones and turning the music up and loud as humanly possible. However that was short lived when the flight attendant asked her to turn it off until they had taken off.

A voice came over the plane and said, "Flight 118 nonstop to San Lorenzo from Seattle is boarded and ready for take-off. Please turn off all electronic devices, put your tray tables into an upright position, and fasten your seatbelts. Thank you for flying Bartlett Air and enjoy your flight."

Helga heaved a sigh and looked out the window as the plane started to take off. This would be a long week.

**Don't murder me! Life is insane. Horary for college. Makes things crazy. Anyway, here's a little chapter. You might get another one later this week. Consider it an early Christmas present. Assuming you celebrate Christmas, which I do. Anyway, review my loves. Bye bye for now. **


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